all about flying drones

I Filmed Wildlife in LA with Drone

I had been flying drones for a little while now, actually doing business out of it, even. Particularly because of the feature to take pictures and record video. Drones are pretty much changing the world if you want my opinion. I’ve given a hand in the process of making short films and even movies. Don’t even get me started on photographs, because everybody suddenly wants pictures taken by drones.

Of anything really, but just because the picture was taken by a drone suddenly it is much better, and better pay, that’s important. The drones have even become actors. My favorite drone I own appeared in a movie, and not exactly as part of the camera crew, I wasn’t even filming, they just needed to have a shot of a drone flying above a street, and since my drone looks so peculiar, it kind of became an actor. See, since I’ve become kind of an expert on drones, it’s not enough for me to just buy one and go out like that. There’s so much you can do with a drone and so much you can do to a drone, so much to improve, so much to change, so much personality you can give them.

But my specialty is taking pictures and recording video. I don’t exactly do races, but I’m confident in my abilities flying these little things around. So, I wasn’t exactly surprised when I was approached for a very interesting opportunity.

“Carol, we are very impressed with your extensive curriculum and your vast experience on the subject of drones,” the email said. “We are a research group interested in starting an organization, a big project aimed towards the protection of the wildlife of Los Angeles. One of the first steps in our project shall be a study of said wildlife. We would like to perform this by using the method of video recordings from the perspective of a drone. Please reach out to us if you are interested in this project, it could go very far. Best Regards, Abigail Ocean.”

The email made me smile. Wildlife in Los Angeles? A wild movie star was moving around a coffee shop perhaps. But if they said it was a big project, if they really were starting an organization and if it really could go very far, then my name would look great credit in the project. I reached out to this woman, and we promptly set up a meeting.

Of course, the meeting was disastrous (at first). It was a sunny morning, and I was wearing tight jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket; she looked much more professional. But nothing changed the fact that we were both staring at the screen on my controller just watching a group of raccoons rush around the trash.

“Well, that’s… disappointing,” she said.

“Miss Ocean, it’s not so bad…”

“Call me Abby, please,” she smiled.

“Look, Abby, maybe Los Angeles is not overflowing with majestic fauna,” I tried to make her feel better. “But if your project is so important maybe you could extend it to all of California.”

My suggestion made her smile. Abby was a beautiful woman, and she had bright chocolate eyes and an adorable smile.

“Maybe we should try that, yes, I’d like that. We could set up a new date.”

“Or we could go right now?” I suggested. “I mean, it’s early. And I have a bike.”

Abby was helpless against my charming smile. We both quickly got up on my motorcycle, and we set up towards the Californian coastline. I knew the scenery, and I knew it would be the most impressive thing I could show her. Traffic wasn’t very helpful, but I wasn’t complaining, having her on the bike with me. In the end, we had to stop for lunch on the way there. She invited me to lunch, which was fun.

After an interesting conversation when she revealed “maybe it’s not uh, settled yet, I mean, it’s not like big serious organization,” which meant this might not be what I thought, but also “maybe I just think you’re awesome and I’m glad we’re doing this together”, which was much better than expected. After that, we settled on the parking lot of the small restaurant on the side of the road, and we got to work. I sent my drone up and flying, and this time she got the chance at marveling at all the things my camera captured. There were more raccoons, of course, there were always raccoons. But we caught sight of coyotes, red foxes, gray foxes and to her amazement a real bear. It was precious, seeing her eyes light up at the screen. I had never been so proud of something I had achieved with my drone.

“Hey, let’s make a bet,” I told her. “If you stay the rest of the afternoon with me and let me take you to the coastline, I bet I can record a great white shark in the water.”

My words made her eyes snap wide open. She was impressed, and I’m not sure if she believed I could.

“Interesting. Well, I’ll have to see that by myself,” she replied confidently.

This wasn’t entirely new for me. I had even actually gone out into the water to record whatever was asked for me. Dolphins, I had recorded a lot of dolphins, people love dolphins. But really, I had no way to be sure if I could see a great white shark in the water with my drone. I was getting nervous, by the time that we got to the perfect place. But Abby was so kind, so funny, so lovely that all the while we talked and talked and we enjoyed each other’s company so much that we almost – almost missed that iconic sight that appeared on the screen.